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SYRIAN MOTHERS ON THEIR OWN: "WE ARE ALL THE SAME, CONFRONTING DEATH AND OUR DESTINY"
The Women's International Perspective
March 19 2015
by Riham Alkousaa
-Germany-
Fadia Al-Khatib, a mother of five, came to Germany by herself. The
44-year-old Syrian woman and her husband decided that she would seek
asylum first and then apply to bring her family over. Hundreds of
Syrian women are making similar decisions, risking their lives for a
chance at a new life. According to an Amnesty International report
issued in December 2014, Germany and Sweden together have received
96,500 new Syrian asylum applications in the last three years,
representing 64 percent of all such applications in the EU.
Fadia Al-Khatib, mother of five, travelled to Germany by herself.
Photograph courtesy of German photographer Corinna Mehl.
"A quarter of the newcomers from Syria and Iraq are women who came
on their own," estimates Hacub Sahinian, a Syrian Armenian priest who
spends hours each day helping Syrian families at the refugee transit
camp in Friedland, Germany. "Men have to stay with the kids because
they can protect them more."
"Syrian women, especially Muslim women," Hacub Sahinian notes,
"do not travel alone." But circumstances are changing traditions
and Hacub has met women who have left their children with friends or
relatives and travelled to Germany alone after their husbands were
killed or arrested.
"I was the one who had to leave," Fadia explains. "We lost our house
in Harasta, outside of Damascus. I lost my job as a teacher and if
my husband left we would have had no means of supporting our family."
Fadia's husband works as an electrician for the equivalent of $150
USD a month, which, Fadia adds, "is hardly enough to support six
family members in Damascus."
When I hear Syrian women's stories, I realize how lucky I am. For
me the trip was easy. I had a regular visa to join a journalistic
fellowship with the Goethe-Institut, a German cultural institute that
encourages inter cultural exchange. But, it is not that easy for most
Syrian women.
The Syrian refugees who make it to Germany and Sweden are the
minority. In total, more than 10 million Syrians, or 45 percent of
the country's population, are estimated to have been forced from
their homes due to the conflict. Of those, 6.5 million are displaced
within Syria and approximately 4 million people have sought refuge in
other countries. According to a November 2014 report released by the
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(UNOCHA), 3.8 million Syrians - or 95 percent - are now in just five
host countries: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.
Fadia arrived in Germany in August 2014 after her visa for Spain
expired. She had gone to Spain to join her brother, a Spanish citizen,
but could not find work because she could not speak Spanish. Since
refugees in Spain are not offered the same support starting out as
in Germany and Sweden, she applied for humanitarian asylum status at
the Friedland camp.
"It's been seven months since I saw my kids. I know that this will
come to a good end, but I miss them so much." Fadia's eyes fill with
tears as she talks about her family. She spends more than three hours
a day on the Internet with them and is learning German and taking
the required steps to bring her family over to Germany.
It generally takes six months to bring ones family over to Germany
after receiving formal refugee status. The procedure includes two
interviews with the Auslanderbehorde, the Foreigners' Registration
Office.
During the three months May AboAnaaj, 34, waited at Bramche camp in
lower Saxony for her first Auslanderbehorde interview she could hardly
walk. Carrying her groceries was a daily struggle. May's back problems
stem from her kidnapping in 2012 while taking a taxi from the market to
her home in Damascus. Her kidnappers beat her and demanded her husband
pay 1 million Syrian pounds, the equivalent of $9,000 USD, for her
release. May was unable to identify her kidnappers or to which party
they were affiliated. She cannot speak openly about what happened. Her
husband borrowed money from family and friends to get her out.
After May's husband paid the kidnappers, she fled with him and
their two children to Jordan. But May, a Palestinian Syrian, was
not permitted to enter Jordan with her family. According to Human
Rights Watch, Jordanian authorities began denying entry to Palestinian
Syrians in April 2012, and officially declared a non-admittance policy
in January of 2013. In declaring the policy, Jordanian Prime Minister
Abdullah Ensour argued that Palestinians from Syria should be allowed
to return to their places of origin in Israel and Palestine and that
"Jordan is not a place to solve Israel's problems."
Instead May went to Egypt by herself. She tells me, "After two years
of loneliness in Cairo, I decided to make the risky trip from the
Egyptian coast to Italy. I went on a boat from Alexandria to Milano
and we were lucky enough to reach land after eight days at sea." When
her husband sends photos or voice clips of Marwan, now five, May
collapses. Her baby girl, now three, only knows her mother as green
name on Whatsapp, a free, mobile messaging tool.
Travelling alone was a challenge for May's flat mate, a mother of three
who asks to remain anonymous. The 40-year-old Kurdish woman from Afrin,
near Aleppo, walked from Turkey through Bulgaria, Serbia, and Austria
to reach Munich where she applied for asylum. The trip took 15 days
and she was the only women in her group travelling by foot.
"I saw men crying of cold and thirst and I stood still. We have kept
in contact with each other, and they always tell me that I inspired
them to continue on the path." Walking so long and in such conditions
led to her losing her toenails, which took three months to grow back.
She explains that she chose this route to immigrate because of its
cost, only EURO 500 for this trek (equivalent to about $565 USD). This
is very cheap compared to how much other Syrians are paying to be
smuggled into Europe.
Depending on the way one makes the journey, it costs between $4,000
USD for passage on a boat crossing the Mediterranean to $12,000 USD
for a forged visa and a plane ride to a European airport, 24-year-old
Nour Bouhasan tells me. Prices are not negotiable with the smugglers
since demand so far exceeds supply. Nour travelled from Greece to
Hamburg via plane.
Nearly 3000 people were shipwrecked in the Mediterranean in 2014,
according to an International Organization for Migration (IOM) report.
In May's words, "At sea it doesn't matter if a refugee is a woman or
a man. We are all the same, confronting death and our destiny."
For these women on their own in a totally different country, society,
and culture, these experiences are much more than a trip to Europe. "I
don't feel that I need to tell my husband every detail about my life
as I used to do," Fadia says. "I am more independent now." Fadia
is not just learning German but also trying to extend her network
with the German society, attending social events and lectures to
integrate the refugees in to German life. For May, the long distance
relationship between her and her husband makes them "like new lovers
talking to each other all day. When you lose someone you start to
feel his importance and this is happening with us."
Over the past three months getting to know these women, I have heard
many more stories than I can write about. Each woman has a different
story and a different way of arriving here. But they all share the hope
of building a better life in Germany, building a future that will not
be demolished easily by war. All of the women have learned what it
means to be an independent woman in a Western country. Some women's
stories come to a close with three years of residency. Other women
are waiting. I too am waiting. Will I be able to bring my family here?
About the Author: Riham Alkousaa is 24-year-old Palestinian Syrian
Journalist based in Berlin, Germany. She holds a BA in Faculty of Media
from Damascus University. She was previously employed at Sham FM Radio
in Damascus, Syria; Syria Today Magazine, and by the online magazine
Aliqtisadi. Riham has been published on the website Huna Sotak and
the print publication Assafire. Her current focus is cultural events
and issues in higher education in the Middle East.
Visit Riham's blog rihamkousa.wordpress.com where she writes about
herself, her dreams, and her daily life. Riham tells The WIP, "I have
two homes that I lost; my Palestine in 1948 and my Yarmouk Camp (south
of Damascus) in 2012. I dream of a better Syria, a new Syria where
everyone can have his/her own fair share. I dream of going back home."
http://thewip.net/2015/03/19/syrian-mothers-on-their-own-we-are-all-the-same-confronting-death-and-our-destiny/
From: Baghdasarian
The Women's International Perspective
March 19 2015
by Riham Alkousaa
-Germany-
Fadia Al-Khatib, a mother of five, came to Germany by herself. The
44-year-old Syrian woman and her husband decided that she would seek
asylum first and then apply to bring her family over. Hundreds of
Syrian women are making similar decisions, risking their lives for a
chance at a new life. According to an Amnesty International report
issued in December 2014, Germany and Sweden together have received
96,500 new Syrian asylum applications in the last three years,
representing 64 percent of all such applications in the EU.
Fadia Al-Khatib, mother of five, travelled to Germany by herself.
Photograph courtesy of German photographer Corinna Mehl.
"A quarter of the newcomers from Syria and Iraq are women who came
on their own," estimates Hacub Sahinian, a Syrian Armenian priest who
spends hours each day helping Syrian families at the refugee transit
camp in Friedland, Germany. "Men have to stay with the kids because
they can protect them more."
"Syrian women, especially Muslim women," Hacub Sahinian notes,
"do not travel alone." But circumstances are changing traditions
and Hacub has met women who have left their children with friends or
relatives and travelled to Germany alone after their husbands were
killed or arrested.
"I was the one who had to leave," Fadia explains. "We lost our house
in Harasta, outside of Damascus. I lost my job as a teacher and if
my husband left we would have had no means of supporting our family."
Fadia's husband works as an electrician for the equivalent of $150
USD a month, which, Fadia adds, "is hardly enough to support six
family members in Damascus."
When I hear Syrian women's stories, I realize how lucky I am. For
me the trip was easy. I had a regular visa to join a journalistic
fellowship with the Goethe-Institut, a German cultural institute that
encourages inter cultural exchange. But, it is not that easy for most
Syrian women.
The Syrian refugees who make it to Germany and Sweden are the
minority. In total, more than 10 million Syrians, or 45 percent of
the country's population, are estimated to have been forced from
their homes due to the conflict. Of those, 6.5 million are displaced
within Syria and approximately 4 million people have sought refuge in
other countries. According to a November 2014 report released by the
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(UNOCHA), 3.8 million Syrians - or 95 percent - are now in just five
host countries: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.
Fadia arrived in Germany in August 2014 after her visa for Spain
expired. She had gone to Spain to join her brother, a Spanish citizen,
but could not find work because she could not speak Spanish. Since
refugees in Spain are not offered the same support starting out as
in Germany and Sweden, she applied for humanitarian asylum status at
the Friedland camp.
"It's been seven months since I saw my kids. I know that this will
come to a good end, but I miss them so much." Fadia's eyes fill with
tears as she talks about her family. She spends more than three hours
a day on the Internet with them and is learning German and taking
the required steps to bring her family over to Germany.
It generally takes six months to bring ones family over to Germany
after receiving formal refugee status. The procedure includes two
interviews with the Auslanderbehorde, the Foreigners' Registration
Office.
During the three months May AboAnaaj, 34, waited at Bramche camp in
lower Saxony for her first Auslanderbehorde interview she could hardly
walk. Carrying her groceries was a daily struggle. May's back problems
stem from her kidnapping in 2012 while taking a taxi from the market to
her home in Damascus. Her kidnappers beat her and demanded her husband
pay 1 million Syrian pounds, the equivalent of $9,000 USD, for her
release. May was unable to identify her kidnappers or to which party
they were affiliated. She cannot speak openly about what happened. Her
husband borrowed money from family and friends to get her out.
After May's husband paid the kidnappers, she fled with him and
their two children to Jordan. But May, a Palestinian Syrian, was
not permitted to enter Jordan with her family. According to Human
Rights Watch, Jordanian authorities began denying entry to Palestinian
Syrians in April 2012, and officially declared a non-admittance policy
in January of 2013. In declaring the policy, Jordanian Prime Minister
Abdullah Ensour argued that Palestinians from Syria should be allowed
to return to their places of origin in Israel and Palestine and that
"Jordan is not a place to solve Israel's problems."
Instead May went to Egypt by herself. She tells me, "After two years
of loneliness in Cairo, I decided to make the risky trip from the
Egyptian coast to Italy. I went on a boat from Alexandria to Milano
and we were lucky enough to reach land after eight days at sea." When
her husband sends photos or voice clips of Marwan, now five, May
collapses. Her baby girl, now three, only knows her mother as green
name on Whatsapp, a free, mobile messaging tool.
Travelling alone was a challenge for May's flat mate, a mother of three
who asks to remain anonymous. The 40-year-old Kurdish woman from Afrin,
near Aleppo, walked from Turkey through Bulgaria, Serbia, and Austria
to reach Munich where she applied for asylum. The trip took 15 days
and she was the only women in her group travelling by foot.
"I saw men crying of cold and thirst and I stood still. We have kept
in contact with each other, and they always tell me that I inspired
them to continue on the path." Walking so long and in such conditions
led to her losing her toenails, which took three months to grow back.
She explains that she chose this route to immigrate because of its
cost, only EURO 500 for this trek (equivalent to about $565 USD). This
is very cheap compared to how much other Syrians are paying to be
smuggled into Europe.
Depending on the way one makes the journey, it costs between $4,000
USD for passage on a boat crossing the Mediterranean to $12,000 USD
for a forged visa and a plane ride to a European airport, 24-year-old
Nour Bouhasan tells me. Prices are not negotiable with the smugglers
since demand so far exceeds supply. Nour travelled from Greece to
Hamburg via plane.
Nearly 3000 people were shipwrecked in the Mediterranean in 2014,
according to an International Organization for Migration (IOM) report.
In May's words, "At sea it doesn't matter if a refugee is a woman or
a man. We are all the same, confronting death and our destiny."
For these women on their own in a totally different country, society,
and culture, these experiences are much more than a trip to Europe. "I
don't feel that I need to tell my husband every detail about my life
as I used to do," Fadia says. "I am more independent now." Fadia
is not just learning German but also trying to extend her network
with the German society, attending social events and lectures to
integrate the refugees in to German life. For May, the long distance
relationship between her and her husband makes them "like new lovers
talking to each other all day. When you lose someone you start to
feel his importance and this is happening with us."
Over the past three months getting to know these women, I have heard
many more stories than I can write about. Each woman has a different
story and a different way of arriving here. But they all share the hope
of building a better life in Germany, building a future that will not
be demolished easily by war. All of the women have learned what it
means to be an independent woman in a Western country. Some women's
stories come to a close with three years of residency. Other women
are waiting. I too am waiting. Will I be able to bring my family here?
About the Author: Riham Alkousaa is 24-year-old Palestinian Syrian
Journalist based in Berlin, Germany. She holds a BA in Faculty of Media
from Damascus University. She was previously employed at Sham FM Radio
in Damascus, Syria; Syria Today Magazine, and by the online magazine
Aliqtisadi. Riham has been published on the website Huna Sotak and
the print publication Assafire. Her current focus is cultural events
and issues in higher education in the Middle East.
Visit Riham's blog rihamkousa.wordpress.com where she writes about
herself, her dreams, and her daily life. Riham tells The WIP, "I have
two homes that I lost; my Palestine in 1948 and my Yarmouk Camp (south
of Damascus) in 2012. I dream of a better Syria, a new Syria where
everyone can have his/her own fair share. I dream of going back home."
http://thewip.net/2015/03/19/syrian-mothers-on-their-own-we-are-all-the-same-confronting-death-and-our-destiny/
From: Baghdasarian